


all I can do (is say that these arms were made for holding you)

by orphan_account



Series: 8 Days of Reindeer Games [1]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Decorating, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-13 13:56:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16893900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “It feels exactly like it did when we left. I’ve missed this so much”“Who would’ve known” Archie chuckled softly, whispering to Veronica in the backseat of his dad’s truck. “Veronica new york city it girl Lodge is missing sweet small Riverdale.”“Aren’t you funny this morning?” She smarms, swatting him on the shoulder.Archie laughs, folding his arms behind his head and leaning back. “I’m in a good mood too. It’s great to be back.”orveronica and archie come home from college to spend Christmas with their parents, nostalgia and romance ensues





	all I can do (is say that these arms were made for holding you)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello people! So it’s been like 238593 years since I posted anything, I know! So here’s my excuse - I was writing chapter six of the Colour Of Trouble and then my lovely varchie mutuals told me about this Reindeer Games that riverdale events on tumblr is hosting. For 7 days there’s 7 prompts, so I thought I’d work on these first. 
> 
>  
> 
> We all know the pure, endgame, loving, precious ship that is Varchie needs more content, and more Christmas content! I hope this gets us all in the holiday spirit, hehe. I’ve been waiting to share this with you guys so if you enjoyed it then please let me know and show some love ❤️ 
> 
>  
> 
> For day 1 these are the prompts ;- decorations, lights, trees, inside/outside, preparing the home. 
> 
> xoxo, fallon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_-we took a chance, god knows we tried_

 

_yet all along I knew we’d be fine_

 

_so pour me a drink oh love, let’s split the night wide open and we’ll see everything_

 

_we can live in love in slow motion-_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They get to the airport when it’s practically dark out. Veronica is donning a dark red coat that still looks fashionable and sophisticated even in their circumstances, and Archie has his face hidden behind a big unnecessary scarf and covered in his hoodie. The stars outside are like the glitter she used to admire on her gymnastics leotard, the bright pink one that was her favourite. Little five year old Veronica, proving her hard work and effort after hours in class out there just the night before Christmas Eve. Hermione was in the audience, she took a dozen pictures and clapped for Ronnie every second until her number was over. Hiram only made it in time to see her last tumble run, stuck in a meeting and the New York City traffic just not working in his favour that night, but at the end she jumped into his arms and he brought her the bouquet of flowers, as he’d promised Hermione, for their little girl. They both snuggled her that night with kisses and congratulations.

  
Archie looks at the stars and he has an entirely different memory. He remembers seeing his mother do her art work in the garage one windy fall afternoon, and he wanted to do it too. So Mary set up an easel on the porch and put Archie in one of his dad’s biggest old t shirts. It was for the best, since he ended up getting more paint on himself than on the actual paper. But he remembers when he went too far with the glitter glue once- and it got all over his fingers and specks on his face. Great. That was a Christmas that Archie spent with glittery fingers and a sparkling little button nose, you could still see it in the family photos.

  
That’s what they’re going back for. Christmas, and family. Archie reaches out for Veronica’s hand that’s settled on his thigh and rubs the back of her palm. “Go to sleep baby. You need the rest. I’ll wake you when we get to Riverdale.”

 

 

She manages to get sleep, but not before closing her eyes and just letting the feeling simmer; of their hands locked together, the soft drum of the airplane and the world around them changing colours as they fly back home. She’s only really _awake_ by the time they’re claiming baggage and Archie is asking her again how many bags they brought. She mumbles a reply and does the bag count, waiting until Archie has picked up his guitar, the brown one he loves more than anything, before getting coffee and heading outside.

  
Fred and Mary pick them up from the airport. Veronica is half grateful, she wouldn’t be able to deal with her own parents’ insistent questions about her college classes and the decisions that were yet to be made about her future- Archie gives his parents a bone crushing hug that makes her smile at seven in the morning. Archie always has the ability to do that to her.

  
“There you are Veronica, we missed you so much” Mary states with a warm smile, extending her arms to the girlfriend of five years of her son. Veronica grins back, finding a special homeyness in the embrace of Archie’s mom. At first, Veronica wasn’t used to the familial physical affection, her own family never shared hugs by way of greeting or hand holds when they walked. She used to be afraid and nervous whenever they were around Archie’s mother- but as the years grew on and she knew full well that she and Archie were going to spend their lives together, the two of them have grown closer to each other and generously more comfortable with each other.

  
“I’ve missed you too” Veronica sighs, she hugs Fred too and then the four of them make their way to Fred’s truck and start loading their multiple bags in. “It feels exactly like it did when we left. I’ve missed this so much”

  
“Who would’ve known” Archie chuckled softly, whispering to Veronica in the backseat of his dad’s truck. “Veronica _new york city it girl_ Lodge is missing sweet small Riverdale.”

  
“Aren’t you funny this morning?” She smarms, swatting him on the shoulder.

  
Archie laughs, folding his arms behind his head and leaning back. “I’m in a good mood too. It’s great to be back.”

  
They talk about how long their stay in Riverdale will be, Archie has a shorter break than Veronica but she might be taking a trip with her college buddies the last weekend before school opens. There’s a brand new mall in the clearing where the Twilight drive in used to be, all those years ago, and Tom and Sierra have invited them for dinner tomorrow, if they’re free. “Your parents should be here, Veronica, they said they were picking up a last minute gift to bring to the tree tonight.”

  
“Oh boy” Veronica laughs nervously, taking Archie’s hand to hop out of the high truck. “Wonder what that’ll be.”

  
Archie’s childhood home looks exactly the same on the outside. Technically, it’s only been three years since he left from high school but if the edges were blurred enough they might be able to believe they’re right back in those teenage years. Inside though, a lot has changed. Archie navigates it as soon as he walks through the front door- the cupboard where he threw his backpack and shoes by the door is replaced by an oversized plant, the carpets he used to run back and forth on during summer days is changed and the mess has sufficiently minimalised. He puts his hand on the banister and looks up the flight of stairs, immediately taken back to a time when the two of them would run up there every day after school together. Back then, this house, between two thirty and seven pm was like their own free world. They were alone and they were free, free to indulge in their passions and love and lust and all the things that only exist between them. In that time, they were unstoppable, stripping each other down and losing themselves in hasty kisses far too pent up from the morning that’s just past. The memories flash in his mind like a kaleidoscope of colourful fragments of time, and he smiles.

 

  
“ _Mija_ , you’re home!” Hiram and Hermione are sitting at their table with delighted smiles and a bottle of wine that’s already opened.

  
Veronica feels overwhelmed and relieved all at once. They both hug her, it’s been so long, and she feels like she’s that little girl in a glittery pink leotard again.

 

 

 

 

 

  
x:x

 

 

 

 

  
There’s a lot to catch up on. They Skype every week but it’s not nearly the same, so the six of them have another bottle of wine and the scrumptious scones Mary had made specially for the occasion, jumping into every topic under the sun until the sun goes down.

  
“I swear Arch, you’ve grown bigger!” Fred insists, getting heckled by the other adults. “I mean at least an inch!”

  
“Dad, I think we’re past the ‘ _you’ve grown_ ’ stage now.” Archie smiles. His ears are red at the tips and Veronica is smiling up at him, unconsciously. “I’m not a teenager anymore.”

  
“Ah, come on you’re twenty one. It’s entirely possible. And you’ve always been a late bloomer” Fred finishes his argument by leaving the table, and the rest of them in laughter.

  
He comes back again with something that makes Archie squirm in his seat but also peak with excitement, the dusty old family albums that stay in their place, in the drawer that his mother still has in his dad’s bedroom. Even after the split, Mary and Fred stayed close, close enough to spend Christmas together just for the sake of their son. He thinks they might even get along better _after_ the split, but that’s something else entirely.

  
“Oh my gosh these are precious” Veronica gasps at the first photo of Archie at about six or seven in his oversized overalls, posing in front of a Christmas tree farm. He’s standing, of course, with Betty. Her hair is in a ponytail the same way it was all through high school, the blonde has more recently decided to switch up and experiment with her style with more than welcome help of Veronica. “Oh my god. Betty was basically taller than you here, I can’t believe that!”

  
“Shut up” Archie smiled, looking over her shoulder at the picture of them and Jughead on a school expedition. “We were eleven.”

  
There’s so many pictures of Archie from when he was a baby up till his middle school years, an album for practically every occasion, and they talk and joke and their parents reminisce on times that he doesn’t remember. It reminds Veronica a lot of what her own family photo albums are like, a million just for her. It comes with the territory of being an only child, another one of the many things she and Archie relate to each other on.

  
It gets interesting when the albums become more recent, and there’s photos on there they didn’t even know Fred or Mary had printed out. Like the ones of them at junior and senior prom, homecomings, and their graduation. She smiles at the vivid memories, the times when they were still just _dreaming_ of the future. Dreaming of what today would be like.

  
“What you looking at?” Archie comes up behind her as the rest of the adults had disappeared into the kitchen to get more food and decorations for the Christmas tree from the basement. He wraps his arms around her mid section, chin resting on her shoulder. Their faces are pressed together at the sides and she nuzzles her chin into him softly.

 

“Look at this” she says softly, tracing her finger over the double picture of both of them. They’re sitting on his stairs, that same stairs, their legs intertwined with each other and they seem to be laughing at something. She can’t remember what they were laughing about but that makes it even better, to look at something she doesn’t remember and see how happy they were. “I don’t remember this day”

  
“I do” Archie nods, making a ticklish sensation on her shoulder. “Your family was coming into Riverdale for your confirmation and you stayed over at my place that night. Two purposes; one, to teach me any amount of Spanish to save my life and also to take some time-“

  
“From being around all of my extended family. Yeah, I remember now” she always felt more comfortable in the Andrews home. With him, it’s like there’s no point ever hiding. Putting up a wall. She’s never trying to impress him, something that comes naturally in her life especially around their equally high profile, judgemental family. It’s not that she doesn’t love them, any more or any less, but the difference is that he’s her happy place _no matter what._

  
“Do you ever miss it? The old times?”

  
Archie chuckles. “Ronnie, you’re sounding far too sappy tonight.”

  
“Well it is Christmas Eve” she concludes “and all that talk from our mothers about a July wedding and your grandmother’s ring is putting me on edge”

  
He laughs at that, spins her around in the chair so that they’re sitting facing each other with the heavy album on her thighs. “Relax. They’re just talking. Just look at this picture.. remember what we felt there? That’s all we need” he tucks the hair on her face behind her ears, grinning softly and inching closer. “No July wedding. No big plans. Just us.”

  
His parents are really good at documenting. She’ll give them that, since there’s photos of them dancing at her confirmation that they didn’t even attend. Veronica’s smile is lopsided when he touches her, eyeing the picture of them dancing together. “I surely remember that night. Remember how you took that pure white dress off right after we left the church where I renounced Satan and-“

  
“Shhh” Archie puts his finger on her lips and it makes her laugh, even though he looks slightly red at the memory. Their parents are still busy with whatever they’re doing in the kitchen. “Gosh, that’s really terrible. But you can’t  blame me, we had just started and everything was too new and exciting to control.”

  
“Oh, I remember” she smirks, that tiny little smirk on her full lips. “Remember our _first_ time?”

  
“I remember feeling nervous as hell, if that’s what you’re asking” he scoffs playfully. They’d talked about it before. As much as Archie was confident in everything he did and sex was something that came naturally to him, he always had a small insecurity when he and Veronica started dating that mostly stemmed from her air of ultimate maturity and confidence. They’d talked about how he was nervous of her comparing him to anyone else from her past, but her caring too much about him to let him know. And they’d laughed about it years later, but on that very night Archie didn’t find it very funny at all.

  
“You’re so cute. I could do it right here, right now” she whispered, getting closer to his face that their noses were brushing and their lips spoke words against each other, neither of them initiating the kiss just yet. Veronica hears Archie’s little scandalised gasp, like he can still be surprised by her anymore, and makes the move to press their lips together.

  
She smiles so pleasingly sweet in the kiss, fruitful like the wine and with a slight citrus taste that bursts on his tongue when he arouses her. He kisses the soft underside of her jaw, pleased to feel her stiffen and squirm all at once. Her hips bent forward, bringing her into full body contact. Slowly Archie drops his arms around her hips and gently tugs her closer.

  
They have all the intention to keep going when the sound of something loud and heavy and possibly metal falling on the basement steps happens, shocking them enough to jump apart just in time for Fred to come upstairs from the basement with boxes overspilling with decorations and Hermione to appear from the kitchen with Mary. She has the shadow of a grimace on her face, which Veronica understands what its about when Vegas comes running in from the same kitchen. His tongue wagging and pink, the bell on his collar making festive sounds as he runs and squishes himself right between Archie and Veronica’s legs like he missed them more than they did he.

  
All of a sudden the room is in a state of noise and cheer again, and while Archie reaches down to pet Vegas he sighs in a way that makes Veronica laugh. _Later_.

 

 

 

 

 

x:x

 

 

 

 

  
Almost three hours later, _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_ is playing on the tv and Veronica feels more full from one dinner than she has the past three years at college. Everything on the table was good, and their parents were just so insistent on second and third and fourth helpings.

 

The air smells like chocolate and sugar and something yummy, Archie’s mom had been baking all evening but the chocolate chip cookies always come in the morning. It’s been that way since he was little, otherwise they’d be gone quicker than they were made. Hermione is brining one of her own recipes as well, the gingerbread house that was the only treat Veronica ever remembered her making grow up. They’ll ice it and decorate soon, when it’s done baking.

  
“And _this_ one! It’s my favourite. You stuck it on my tree the first Christmas we spent together”  
Archie recalls. He’s holding up a gold glittery ornament that for one second makes her turn red furiously fast. It _does_ look like something fifteen year old Veronica would have stuck on her boyfriend’s tree for whatever reason. The ornament is big and obvious, one of those heavy ones that you put a picture in and she’d chosen to spell out _Varchie forever_ instead of putting a photo in.

  
Lucky for her, their parents were quickly brought to a distraction that they didn’t notice the cringey ornament Veronica had bought and Archie had kept, embarrassingly. “There needs to be more lights. It still looks dull” Hiram points out, always sharp with his eye for design.

  
“You’re right. There’s more boxes in the garage” Fred is up on his feet and her dad follows suit too. Veronica smiles. She’s so happy the days of worrying wether or not her and Archie’s parents would get along are gone, and now they make an effort without even trying.

  
“This is nice huh” Veronica says softly. Her legs feel cozy and warm in the pyjama pants her mother had just bought, soaking up the cold weather in its thick knitting. The flames in the fireplace reflect in her brown eyes, and she curls up on the living room carpet as Archie pins their _Varchie forever_ ornament somewhere in the middle of the tree. “I’m glad we came back”

  
“It sure is” Archie sighs. He looks comfortable and carefree then, the hem of his t shirt riding up when he places one of the sparkly ornaments higher up. “But you still have to do something for me”

  
“What’s that?” Veronica uses her teasing voice, but quickly screams when Archie picks up her laying body in his strong arms and is lifting her too far from the ground.

  
He’s laughing too, struggling to hold her wiggling body in place and reach for something in one of the boxes. “Stop struggling! Here, you put the star up there.”

  
“Are you serious, Archie?” Veronica huffs when he places a gold star in the palm of her hand, looking at her with those endearing eyes.

  
“Will you just go with it, Ronnie?”

  
“Fine, you sap” she agrees. He holds her up and she manages to get it there, perfectly the first try. The moment she’s placed it there he lets her body down in a quick motion, catching her so that she doesn’t fall and holding the bottom of her thighs in place. The Christmas tree looks good now, it looks complete.

  
His arms loosen around her and she breathes at ease, using her fingertips to brush away the red hair in his eyes. She cards through them and they land on his soft ears, out of habit, something that came to her when they started dating and she doesn’t know why. _Cute as a button ears_. She’s never met anyone with hair like Archie’s, or his eyes, or his heart or his mind. The warmth from her skin is now seeping into him and she can feel him trace circles on the bottom of her legs.

  
“Now make a wish” he whispers.

  
“I don’t have to” Veronica says back, closing her eyes and breathing in. Her head spins. “I already have everything I could ever want”

  
Archie chuckles then, and he presses his nose into the side of her neck before looking up and telling her. “I love you Ronnie.”

 

 

 


End file.
